How Do You Know?
by Miss Hermione Granger 1995
Summary: Set during Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 21: When Hermione and Ron find out that Harry has kissed Cho, Hermione states that Harry isn't a bad kisser. When Ron asks her "How Do You Know?" she remembers back to their fourth year. How does Hermione know?


How Do You Know?

_[Just as he decided not to say anything, Hermione took matters out of his hands._

"_Is it Cho?" she asked in a businesslike way. "Did she corner you after the meeting?"_

_Numbly surprised, Harry nodded. Ron sniggered, breaking off when Hermione caught his eye._

"_So – er – what did she want?" she asked in a mock casual voice._

"_She-" Harry began, rather hoarsely; he cleard his throat and tried again. "She - er -"_

"_Did you kiss?" asked Hermione briskly._

_(...)_

"_Oh," said Ron, his smile fading slightly. "Are you that bad at kissing?"_

"_Dunno," said Harry, who hadn't considered this and immediately felt rather worried. "Maybe I am."_

"_Of course you're not," said Hermione absently, still scribbling away at her letter._

"_How do you know?" said Ron very sharply.]_

_**-HDYK-**_

Hermione's head suddenly snapped up from the piece of parchment. She looked at Harry, who looked just as nervous as she felt. She looked at Ron, who looked angry and confused. How was she meant to tell her best friend about her secret affair with her other best friend? She looked back at Harry, who was staring into the fire. Maybe he was thinking about that night? Or maybe he forgot about it? That was silly, she knew he would never forget about it; he promised her. It was a night that neither of them _could_ forget.

_**-HDYK-**_

_(Fourth Year, in the library one week before the First Task)_

"_Hermione, I don't think we're going to find anything here. Maybe we should just head back," Harry suggested._

"_No Harry, I promised I would help you. You go back if you want, I'm going to stay here." Harry just stared at her. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun, strands of her wavy hair falling slightly over her brown eyes. Because it was the weekend, she was wearing a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and a turquoize hoodie. She had little make-up on, but enough to cover-up any immperfections. "What are you looking at Harry?"_

"_What?" he said, snapping out of his gaze. _

"_You were staring at me," Hermione whispered. _

"_Was I? Sorry, I didn't notice." He looked back down at the book he was holding. _

"_Go up to bed, you look tired. I'll see how many other books there are that could help us." She got up and walked over to the nearest book-shelf. When she got back to the table, she saw that Harry was gone. Thirty minutes later, Madam Pince came over to her table._

"_Come on now Miss Granger, up to your Common Room. You can take the books with you, just be sure to return them tomorrow," she said while flicking her wand to clear away the table of used, unwanted parchment. Hermione did as she was told and walked up seven flights of stairs to Gryffindor tower. _

"_Balderdash," she said quietly to the Fat Lady. Once inside the Common Room, Hermione saw that it was empty bar one person asleep on the sofa beside the fire. "Harry?" Harry's head jerked up and his eyes shot open to look at Hermione. _

"_Hey Hermione, back so soon?"_

"_Harry, I've been alone in the library for at least half an hour. Why didn't you go up to bed if you were so tired?" Hermione asked, walking over to sit beside Harry._

"_I wanted to wait up for you, make sure you didn't stay up reading," Harry answered truthfully._

"_Thank you for your concern Harry, but I'm not stupid enough to stay up all night reading!" _

"_I never said you were stupid. You're the brightest witch of-"_

"_-our generation. I know, I've heard it all before," Hermione sighed._

"_But you are Hermione; you really are the cleverest witch I've ever met. The cleverest _person_ I've ever met!" _

"_Thank you Harry, you're pretty great yourself." They started laughing, quietly so as not to wake up the whole House. "I'm going to head up to bed now, and you should too Harry, it's nearly one in the morning, and we have class tomorrow." Just as Hermione was getting up to leave, she felt a tug on her wrist. Harry pulled her back down onto the sofa and kissed her softly. Hermione was in too much shock to respond. He wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her in. She wrapped her's around his neck, now responding with enthusiasm. After minutes that felt like a life time, they pulled apart, arms still wrapped around each other. Harry looked into her chocolate brown eyes and smiled. He leaned in for another kiss but Hermine retreated back, removing her hands from his neck. "Harry, we shouldn't, what would Ron say?" Ron. That was always going to be the cause of them never having a relationship. Harry knew that Ron, his ex-best friend, had a crush on Hermione, although he refused to admit his feelings for her. _

"_Sorry Hermione, you're right," Harry replied._

"_It's ok Harry, for what it's worth, you're not a bad kisser," Hermione said blushing slightly._

"_You too Hermione." They smiled at each other before getting up to go to bed. _

"_Night Harry," Hermione said when she reached the girl's staricase. Just as she was walking up the stairs, Harry said "Promise me Hermione that you will never forget this night." Hermione smiled to herself before turning around to face Harry._

"_I won't Harry, I'll never forget." After returning his grateful smile, she continued up the stairs. As she got ready for bed, she remembered the feel of Harry's soft lips on her's, his large hands around her small waist, the colour of his bright green eyes and the smile he never took off his face when he looked at her._

_**-HDYK-**_

"Because Cho spends half her time crying these days," said Hermione in a confident voice.

"You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up," Ron said, grinning. Hermione looked at Harry, who was smiling at her: _Thank you_. Hermione smiled back and continued with her letter, thinking of the night she spent with Harry.


End file.
